Yesterday, Townsman Hrrundi seemed to be issuing a cry for help after someone recommend the new Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs Under the Covers album to him, thinking that it would be right up his alley. He fearlessly tried to make it though the album. Like many victims of trauma, the experience seemed to leave him scared, angry, and confused about what had just happened to him.
Personally, I think the best road to recovery for these types of situations is to talk through them. Let’s all help pitch in to help him work through this by going through the following exercise:
Please rank the following types of covers album from most offensive to least offensive. Feel free to add any category that I’ve over looked.
1. The devoted fans’ soulless attempt to recreate their favorite tunes (eg, Mathew Sweet and Suzanna Hoffs – Under the Covers albums).
2. The jaded headliner’s crass money-grab (eg, Rod Stewart’s American Songbook series).
3. An unhinged and extremely misguided attempt to cash in on the current zeitgeist. (eg, William Shatner – The Transformed Man).
Hrrundi, please know that you did nothing wrong.
The most offensive to me is the money-grab. Perhaps the example of Rod Stewart is doing it for me, but more and more of these folks are doing this these days. Michael McDonald’s Motown, didn’t Cyndi Lauper do this (?), etc… There’s NOTHING these people add to these songs to make them interesting or unique. It’s a cash-in and nothing more.
The devoted fan is right in the middle. I enjoyed Todd Rundgren’s Faithful album because it was basically him showing off that he could reproduce those “studio classics.” Todd did his homework. But at the end of the day, there’s no point. Beyond that first listen, it becomes a novelty and nothing more. Gee, you recreated something that was already great note for note. Good for you.
The misguided attempt is at least interesting. If we’re talking Shatner, I think his interpretations are cool and while they do not add to the originals, he certainly gives them a different spin. And the very nature of being misguided, it almost always lends itself to comedy. I think Shatner was being funny underneath it all. Rod Stewart is being serious.
TB
Does Bowie’s Pin Ups fit into category 1, or is it a rare example of the good covers album, which we may want to add as a new category.
Covers that attempt to sound like the original are utterly pointless (except as a commercial endeavor or to call attention to a long lost gem).
That being said, I’ve had a little crush on Susanna Hoffs ever since I first saw her holding that Rickenbacher 25 years ago. It’s not enough to get me to buy her new LP, but it got me through the YouTube clip above.
Rank: 2, 1, 3
Note Paul Chastain from the Velvet Crush along for the strum in this video.
2-1-3, money grabbing is worse than playing some of your favorites because you want to, and weird or incorrect presentation is more entertaining than the others. The Punkles do some fun totally unnecessary Beatle covers where they often get a few words wrong.
If you don’t expect anything out of a covers album then they would not be so damned disappointing. Is Bowie the exception that proves the rule?
I like cover songs, but not covers records..rarely do I find more than 3 songs of worth on ’em
From most offensive to least offensive, I may go 3, 1, 2. The Shatner example can at least result in unintented humor.
I liked when solid bands in their own right the ’60s “did” Dylan. I wish more solid bands in their own right would “do” entire albums of Dylan covers. For contractual obligation albums, instead of a lame live album, why don’t bands just “do” Dylan?
The Byrds Play Dylan is one of the records I go back to the most (of the cover records)
What about the entire record cover?
Tribute to Nebraska? V/A
Smithereens Play Tommy?
Another 2-1-3 vote.
Whole record covers are a good one. They’re not usually great records, but they are often fascinating. You get a chance to watch them try on someone else’s sound and move around in it.
My favorite in this vein is Camper van Beethoven’s Tusk. The Walkmen’s whole album take on Nilsson’s Pussycats is interesting, too.
Personal favorite cover record is Firewater’s Songs We Should Have Written.
There’s a couple of folks, a guy playing everything and tha girl singing from a West Coast Band called Waycross that covered “Taking Tiger Moutain”. It’s a little heavier and sort of a generally faithful but rocked up take on it.
I also love Petra Haden’s acapella rendering of The Who Sell Out.
Here’s a question. I just received a notification that Sweet & Hoffs are playing in mid-November at the Iron Horse in Northampton MA. The Iron Horse is a great little place to see music. Seats about 120 people. All seats are great, sound and view wise.
Stage is small (although I’ve seen a lot of people crammed on it) so I’m assuming they won’t have too much of a band with them. Tickets are $33.
It’s theoretical for me as I’ll be out of the country then but this holds a lot more appeal for me than the album. Of course, I don’t know if they’ll be playing any of their own songs but it seems even the covers might be more appealing without the studio and guest artists to make them rote.
hvb, would you go to this or are you too scarred from your listening experience?
Do we know what Susanna will be wearing at the show yet? That may be an important factor.
I used to know a guy who re-recorded both Surrealistic Pillow and Moby Grape’s first album in their entirety. I can’t find the bold where he goes into the details about how he did it but the end results were pretty impressive for a guy doing it all by himself in his house.
^^^that’s supposed to be “blog” not “bold”
I like Tribute albums where a lot of artists do covers like The Stiff Generation on Groove Disques CDs featuring Whole Wide World by Bill Lloyd.
Not a recording, but we went to see Crowded House a while back. Pete Yorn was the opener and I was game to give the guy a chance, since I didn’t really know his stuff. He and his band played an entire set of covers, and frankly, it really pissed me off. I felt that my time was being wasted, and that he was being really indulgent.
I wonder how many of those “soundalikes” there are – Dave Gregory did some, and I believe Karl Wallinger (sp?) of World Party did some. I have an album, EMI”s tribute to themselves, current artists covering older EMI bands, and Wallinger’s version of “Martha My Dear” is on there, pretty identical to the original. The best track, as I recall it, was actually Jesus Jones’ version of the Stranglers’, “Go Buddy Go.”
What a turd of an album, though:
http://www.discogs.com/Various-Essential-Interpretations/release/678107
Kicking Against the Pricks by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (1986) is a rock solid covers album. I also like:
Pin Ups by David Bowie
Labour of Love by UB40
$5.98 EP by Metallica
Ultraglide in Black by The Dirtbombs
Fakebook by Yo La Tengo
These albums are full of great songs performed by artists at the height of their powers.
It’s when somebody past their prime trys
pullin that shit, that the results are not so great, like:
Matthew Sweet and Susanah Hoffs
Tori Amos
Duran Duran
Annie Lennox
Rod Stewart
All of these artists have made crappy covers albums.
I’d add Moondog Matinee by The Band as a really good covers album. I wonder what people think of Lennon’s Rock and Roll album. I haven’t heard it in years, but I thought it wasn’t bad, despite it being past the height of Lennon’s powers. Even with the contractual obligation issues, I think his heart was in the right place.
I like Rock and Roll by John Lennon.
2-3-1
I have less a problem with covers them most. I’d argue the opposite. We need more artists performing and recording covers of good songs. There are far too many people writing and recording their own poor originals.
Cover albums can be great. Shawnkilroy named a few. One great overlooked album— produced by Jim Dickinson, but sadly overlooked even in his recent obits was Toots Hibbert’s record of Memphis/Stax covers, Toots in Memphis. Features some great playing by Sly & Robbie. And Toots really can sing.
I had no idea there was a Toots album of Memphis covers. I’ll have to seek that out. Thanks for the tip, butcher pete.